


Amortentia

by redpotter



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, Hurt/Comfort, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-24
Updated: 2015-05-24
Packaged: 2018-04-01 01:28:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,747
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4000750
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/redpotter/pseuds/redpotter
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>6th year. Draco is brewing Amortentia and it smells like cheap soap. He cannot remember anyone who smells like cheap soap, but then Harry is there to remind him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Amortentia

It was the first time Draco Malfoy tried to brew Amortentia. He wasn’t intending on using it, it was stupid and it wasn’tlike he had anyone to use it on. He was only doing it for academic purposes, might earn him a few extra N.E.W.Ts points and maybe they would save him from the Dark Lord’s wrath once he realized that Draco had been spending the time he should be focusing on killing Dumbledore brewing love potions instead.

He shouldn’t think of Voldemort again, though, he was doing this to get his mind out of his inevitable failure, and brewing potions had always been something that relaxed him. Clear instructions to follow, he was confident enough to bend a few of them but he knew what path to take, it was clear and he knew exactly what was supposed to happen next –unlike his life.

Draco added the final dash of peppermint and let it rest for 10 minutes, his eyes floating across the lilac surface that would soon turn red, he watched it boil slowly. He could never predict where the next bubble would pop, but it didn’t matter, because the result would be what he wanted. He didn’t care about the bubbles, and he was just a bubble to Voldemort in the end. It didn’t matter if it popped or not, as long as the potion worked.

He turned his back to the cauldron, running his fingers through his hair tiredly. His eyes had travelled all through the scattering of things in the Room of Requirement already and those things didn’t impress Draco anymore. They made him feel suffocated, piles and piles of memories and things that mattered once but didn’t anymore, and they would fall all over him when he too became a thing that didn’t matter anymore.

He missed Quidditch and he missed worrying about the next Transfiguration exam. He missed planning utterly complex jokes to use on Potter, and pranks, and things that would never work because when Potter was around him, he couldn’t think. He only said the next offensive thing that popped on his head, and it was usually ridiculous. He just couldn’t control himself near Potter, it was like he was boiling and every single particle of him wanted to lash out all his energy on Potter’s stupid face, to get a reaction out of him.

He turned around once again and looked at his potion. He extinguished the fire – it was ready. He didn’t have to drink it, or to make anyone drink it, to know if it was good or not. He just had to smell it.

First, he smelled cinnamon. Then, blueberry cake. It was his favourite, his mother always baked it for him when he was a child. It was the only thing she ever baked, she told Draco that no House Elf had ever been able to make a blueberry cake and she was right. Draco never ate anything like it anywhere else.

The third smell surprised Draco. It was soap, but not an expensive soap like everyone in Slytherin used. It smelled like a cheap, common soap. He didn’t know anyone who would dare to use that kind of thing? He must have screwed up the potion.

He knew that he hadn’t, but angrily vanishing the content made him feel a little satisfied for a while. He wandered through the corridors of the Room of Requirement, they were confusing and misleading but he had learned his way through them already. He was avoiding the Vanishing Cabinet as much as he could, but his feet always took him there in the end.

His eyes darted across the old surface and he realized something. He really couldn’t do this alone anymore, he needed help. Of course, Snape had been offering him a lot of help lately but he only wanted to steal Draco’s glory. He wouldn’t offer Draco a way out, and maybe that was the help he needed. He could find his way through the mess of Room of Requirement, but he couldn’t see the way out of the mess that was his life.

He heard a noise.

His heart beating faster, he got his wand on his hand and rushed towards the noise. For some reason, there was a tiny voice in the back of his head telling him that Voldemort was the source of the noise. He decided to ignore it.

But standing in the front of his empty cauldron was a boy with messy jet black hair. Potter. Of course it would be bloody Potter.

“Potter” Draco said bitterly.

“Malfoy” Potter answered, his eyes sparkling on Draco’s direction as Draco drew closer, his hand still clutching his wand. “You’re making potions? That’s your task to Voldemort?”

Draco flinched. Potter didn’t notice.

“No” Draco replied.

“You admit that you have a task to Voldemort, then?” Potter asked again “What is it?”

Draco started breathing heavily. Potter shouldn’t be here, how did he get in? How did he even know that Draco was here, anyway? And then it hit Draco. He had asked for help, and the Room always provided him with whatever he wanted. Potter there was probably the twisted idea that the Room had of help, it was an illusion.

“Answer me, Malfoy. What do you do here all day?” He wanted Potter to shut up. “Tell me, Malfoy!”

“Shut up, Potter. Stop asking me that” He replied, his voice shaking.

Potter studied him and stood silent. The Room didn’t know how to mimic someone’s personality very well, because the real Potter would have never shut up.

“Aren’t you here to help me?” Draco snapped angrily.

“Help you how?” Potter asked confused.

“I don’t know! Work your magic” Draco’s voice was unnaturally high pitched, and he put his wand on his pocket again, folding his arms.

Potter didn’t do anything at first, just frowned at him. Draco felt ridiculous but it wasn’t really Potter, so he didn’t have to worry about anything.

Then Potter raised his hand. At first, Draco thought he would slap him, but it turned out that Potter was actually just placing a tentative hand on his shoulder. It was pathetic, and Draco’s body jerked suddenly. His eyes met Potter’s and suddenly Draco flung himself on the other boy’s arms, his head reminding him that it wasn’t real, Potter wasn’t real, he had nothing to worry about.

Potter stood still for a moment, but then he sort of patted Draco on the back and it was so unnerving that Draco started hitting him with his fists, but with his head was still buried on Potter’s neck and that was so stupid and Draco was feeling so tired and so drawn out of energy that he started sobbing.

Potter seemed more startled, and Draco realized that Potter smelled like cheap soap like his Amortentia and that was so unsettling, he was running out of air, his fists clenched on Potter’s robes.

“Please make it stop” Draco begged.

“Make what stop?” Potter asked.

“Everything. The world”

Potter sighed and put his both arms around Draco and squeezed tightly. Draco held on more strongly to Potter, and the room was so silent that he could hear the other boy’s heartbeats. Draco started matching his breath with Potter’s. He closed his eyes, and his ears were only paying attention to Potter’s heartbeat, his lungs were only paying attention to Potter’s breath. And Draco felt calm.

He started to enjoy the cheap soap smell. Maybe Potter didn’t even smell like that and the room was only trying to make Draco feel something familiar. It didn’t matter. He was calm, and he was safe and Potter was breathing and so was he.

Draco didn’t know how long they stood there, but he was the one to break apart. Their breaths still matching, he looked into Potter’s eyes. They were so close. And it wasn’t really Potter. It was an illusion. That’s why Draco kissed him.

Their noses bumped and Potter didn’t answer at first, but of course he would answer, he wasn’t real. He did what Draco wanted, and Draco wanted him to open his mouth. He slid his tongue inside Potter’s mouth and Potter had his hand on Draco’s back, Draco’s hands messily grabbing his head. He felt Potter breathing out heavily on his lips and he pulled him closer. He hit his back on the table, it was stupid, but if felt so good and he wasn’t calm anymore but this was different. He was wired. That was what Potter did to him and the Room was making this Potter so perfectly close to the original now that Draco didn’t want to ever leave the Room of Requirement.

Suddenly Potter pulled back.

“We should go back” he said, he had his hands framing Draco’s face now. He was absolutely close.

“No, we shouldn’t” Draco rolled his eyes “It’s not like you can leave anyway, can you?”

Potter looked confused.

“Potter, you aren’t real. The room just made you up because I asked for help, so it tried to give me you” Potter narrowed his eyes. This was annoying, they should just keep kissing. Then, Potter laughed.

“Malfoy, I am real” He said “I was outside trying to break in and then the door opened for me”

“No” Draco got away from him “It’s not you. You’re not the real Potter”

“Of course I am” Potter answered

“But then… why did you kiss me?”

“You kissed me”

“Why did you kiss me back?” Draco asked desperately.

“Because I wanted to” Potter’s gaze was firm.

Draco’s eyes widened and they stared at each other in complete silence for an instant.

“What do you plan on doing?” Draco sighed.

“Let’s get dinner. Then we can plan something. Then we can go to Dumbledore and ask for help, we can do whatever you want.” Potter’s hand reached out for him, but instead of placing it on Draco’s shoulder, he placed it on his cheek. Draco felt small for an instant, but then he realized that it wasn’t that the right feeling. He felt protected. He felt like he wasn’t alone.

“I just want to calm down” Draco answered “And I just want to kiss you”

“Okay” Harry smiled. His hand let go of Draco’s cheek and went lower, grabbing his hand. And as him and Draco went towards the door, Draco breathed. In and out.

And he felt calm. And he felt hopeful.

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading <3 kudos and comments are always appreciated!


End file.
